|
Castelgandolfo, 9th April 2007 (CNA) - Today,
at midday, Pope Benedict XVI marked Easter Monday with the praying of the
Regina Coeli, the Marian prayer which replaces the Angelus during the Easter
Season. Speaking from his balcony at Castelgandolfo, the Pope reminded the
faithful that those who have encountered the resurrected Christ and who
believe, have nothing to fear.
After presiding over Easter Morning Mass
yesterday in St. Peter’s Square and following a long week of liturgies and
prayers, the Holy Father departed for the Papal retreat in the small village
near Rome. He will remain at Castelgandolfo until Saturday.
The Holy Father offered a short reflection and
prayed with those pilgrims gathered under his window as well as those
gathered in St. Peter’s Square, who had an Audio/Video link to the Pope.
Prior to leading the group in prayer, the
Pontiff of Rome recalled that Church’s “liturgy commits not only one day,
but a good fifty days, to the Easter season, which concludes with
Pentecost.”
The Holy Father also recalled the particular
significance of Easter Sunday, which the Church considers to be spread
across an entire week, forming the Octave of Easter.
Today’s liturgy, he continued, calls us to the
tomb where Jesus appeared to those women who remained with him during His
Passion, and tells us, like them “Do not be afraid.”
“Those who encounter the resurrected Jesus and
who entrust themselves totally to Him have nothing to fear,” the Pope said.
This is the message which Christians are called to spread to the ends of the
earth.”
The Christian faith, in fact, was born “in the
encounter with one person, with Christ who died and rose again. In our
daily existence, dear friends, there are several occasions to communicate to
others our faith in a simple and convincing way. And it is never more
urgent that men and women in our age know and encounter Jesus, and thanks
also to our example, are left to be overcome by Him.”
The Christian tradition loves to consider Mary
in these first moments of resurrection, the Pope noted, as “the Mother of
the Redeemer rejoices with the ‘friends’ of Jesus, who make up the newly
born Church. As I renew my heartfelt Easter greetings to all of you, I
invoke Her, the Queen of Heaven (Regina Coeli), to preserve the living faith
in the resurrection in each of us and to restore the message of hope and
love of the resurrected Christ.”
Following the Regina Coeli, the Pope greeted
the faithful in several diverse languages.
|
